Sir Robert Bernard, 1st Baronet (1601 - 1666) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

  in 1640.

Bernard was born at Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire, the son of Francis Bernard. He was admitted at the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

 on 13 November 1615. He was Recorder  of Huntingdon

Huntingdon

Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...

.

In April 1640, Bernard was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Huntingdon

Huntingdon (UK Parliament constituency)

Huntingdon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

.

Bernard was Counsel for Cambridge University in 1646 and steward and judge of the Court of the Isle of Ely in 1649. He was a serjeant-at-law and was created Baronet

Bernard Baronets

There have been three Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Bernard, one in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...

 of Huntingdon on 1 July 1662.

Bernard died in his 66th year and was buried in the north aisle of Abington Church, Northamptonshire where there is a monument.

Bernard married firstly Elizabeth Tallakerne, daughter of Sir John Tallakerne. Their children included John

Sir John Bernard, 2nd Baronet

Sir John Bernard, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1654 and 1660.Bernard was born at Northampton, the son of Sir Robert Bernard, 1st Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Tallakerne, daughter of Sir John Tallakerne. His father had been MP for Huntingdon in 1640...

 and Lucy who married Sir Nicholas Pedley

Nicholas Pedley

Sir Nicholas Pedley was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1656 and 1679....

 MP for Huntingdon. Bernard married secondly to Lady Elizabeth Digby, widow of Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby

Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby

Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby was an Anglo-Irish peer.Digby was the son of Sir Robert Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire and Lettice FitzGerald, of Geashill, Ireland, granddaughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare. John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, was his uncle, and Essex Digby, Bishop of...

. She died in 1662 and was buried at St Paul's Covent Garden.